The 1930’s began in a depression following the stock market crash of October 1929. The economic downturn that followed dug so deep into the psyche and pockets of the nation that only a World War could end it. In 1929, the jobless rate in the United States was just 3.2 percent, but by 1933, it peaked at almost 25 percent leaving nearly thirteen million men without work and pay.

Franklin Roosevelt took office on March 3, 1933, and worked quickly to change things. He closed the entire American banking system on March 6, 1933, to stem mass withdrawals and bank failures. On March 9, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act, which created federal deposit insurance when the banks reopened, safeguarding depositors’ money.

President Roosevelt began his 30-minute fireside chats. Prohibition was reversed. Each of these things worked to create a remarkable turnaround in the public's confidence within the first days of his administration.

Agriculture suffered mightily, too. In 1930, Wisconsin was the largest producer of milk in the United States. With more than 125,000 dairy farms in the state, nearly 63 percent of all land in Wisconsin was farmland and 71 percent of that land was used for dairy farming. By 1933, dairy farmers were receiving less than half of what they had made for their milk in 1930 and foreclosures were an everyday occurrence. Wisconsin farmers were hurting. In some areas, farmers banded together to fight back.

The milk strikes of 1933 took place at the very same time President Roosevelt was initiating his New Deal. And Wisconsin took center stage. The first set of strikes ran from Feb. 15-22. Controlled by Wisconsin Milk Pool (a farmers marketing cooperative consisting of local pools grouped in county pools and in turn in one statewide pool), the co-op demanded farmers withhold milk supplies until they received a better price.

Tensions flared around the state. Farmers in Outagamie County dumped truckloads of milk and shut down several dairy plants. Others blocked roads with barricades of logs, boxes and their own bodies to stop the milk trucks.

Milk is dumped into ditches from truck hauling can milk to cheese factories near Saukville. February 20, 1933.(Photo: Courtesy of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center)

On Feb. 21, 1933, the milk strike situation took a serious turn in Calumet County when a raiding party of 50 farmers swept over the county line and committed acts of vandalism at several cheese factories near Brillion. A Sheboygan Press article of the same day reported that kerosene was poured over 600 pounds of newly-made cheese at the factory of William Pfundt in Calumet County.

At the nearby factory of Louis Wrench, all cheese was destroyed and the Harrison factory three miles south was closed. The condensary at Brillion was warned not to accept milk from farmers after Monday. The strikers identified themselves as coming from the vicinity of Nichols north of Appleton. That first strike faltered as milk trucks found alternative routes.

A truce was called on Feb. 22 with Gov. Albert Schmedeman promising to study the prices. After a meeting of farm organizations in Madison, it was agreed farmers would receive a 16 cent/hundred raise in price. But when this didn’t materialize, the Milk Pool called for another larger strike with the influential Farmers’ Holiday Association pledging to join the strike.

The second event, May 13-19, was much more violent than the February strike and affected a larger area of Wisconsin. Two teens were shot, one dying; a 50-year-old farmer also died. Things got so heated that on May 16, 1933, seventy-five members of the National Guard were called out to stop the violence. The third strike, a statewide event, lasting from Oct. 21 to Nov. 18, was the longest and most violent.

On Oct. 28, 1933, a 60-year-old farmer was killed on a picket line in the Town of Burke, Dane County, after a single bullet was fired into the crowd. The victim was not part of the picket but was there delivering food to the strikers. Angered over a broken headlight, the shooter was sentenced to two to four years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter charges.

The strike spread into Sheboygan County with factories affected in Cedar Grove, Lake Church, Dacada, Random Lake and Waldo. Plymouth, the stronghold of the National Cheese Federation, was apparently immune to strike activity. The strike in the city was for the most part passive in nature, with cheese factories just shutting down to avoid violence.

Picketers dumping milk from trucks who refused to turn back during the milk strikes of 1933. Customary procedure when a driver refused to follow orders.(Photo: Courtesy of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center)

A Sheboygan Press article of Monday, Nov 6, 1933, ran an article that included the following information: "Sheboygan Lime Works on Calumet Drive had 7 sticks of dynamite stolen at the beginning of November.

Soon after the theft of explosives, the cheese factory of J.A Huibregtse, three and a half miles southeast of Adell, the Albert Hinz factory three miles south of Plymouth, and the Al Bley factory a mile and a half west of Belgium, were assaulted by blasts."

Farm strike activities centered around Cedar Grove and Belgium. Roads leading to dairy plants were picketed, and several farmers were turned back. But there was no violence. The Gridley plant at Cedar Grove was kept under guard. Only one load of milk was allowed in.

Another article reported the following: "At 3 a.m. on 2 Nov 1933, the cheese factory on Hwy K a mile and a half west of Belgium, owned by Al Bley, was set afire by a dynamite bomb thrown from a passing car. Damage was estimated at $15,000.00. The Bley family was at home asleep when the bomb was thrown. Of course, they were awakened by the blast and soon after saw smoke emanating from the factory."

A stick of dynamite was hurled at the Huibregtse factory outside of Adell, but landed in the driveway and exploded, causing no harm to the building. It certainly scared the kids and blew a hole in the gravel drive. A mass meeting of farmers was held in Cascade on Saturday, Nov. 4, 1933. Milk Pool and Holiday organizers were in attendance.

Al Benson, former Socialist Sheriff of Milwaukee County, spoke and lobbied for a united front for farmers. He flayed Capitalists and accused them of working against unions. He said a rebellion of farmers and laboring people against the present order is a good thing for the country. Defending the acts of violence, he belittled the fear felt by those who opposed the strikes. Those who opposed the strikes feared deaths could occur.

Sheboygan Press photos of milk being dumped outside Shiocton.(Photo: Courtesy of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center)

In a Sheboygan Press article, Benson said, “Sure, but what’s the difference? They (the farmers) may as well be killed as starved to death . . . If we get some of the things we want, after it’s all over, it will be worth it. . . Strikes show the protest of the masses against the Capitalistic system.”

Local newspapers reported that farmers lost $10 million during the strikes. The milk pools faded into obscurity after failing in their objectives. They blamed the Roosevelt Administration for its lack of support, with no culpability for their strong-arm tactics. Farmers in Sheboygan County did not agree with the violence. They did not take to outsiders bringing in radical and dangerous ideas.

Sheboygan County farmers held steady and fortunately, conditions did begin to improve for farmers in 1934.

Beth Dippel is executive director of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center. For more information, please visit the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center’s website at schrc.org.